What If?
by Christine Anne
Summary: She couldn't forget his eyes when they started back at her. She couldn't forget the face she desperately wanted to reach out and touch. She couldn't help herself, she was falling for him. Rose was falling in love with Cedric Diggory.


- Chapter One -

Hi there! My name is Christine. I am fifteen years old, and have been writing for about six years. Now that we have that boring information out of the way, I have something I need everyone to read before they start the story. This fanfiction is a result of a roleplay I had about two years ago. This story is extremely AU for the fact that there is no Harry Potter, at least that has yet to be determined, but if there is then he will be of little or no importance to the story. Several facts have been altered and such. Soo.. basically if you're looking for a story about Harry and his buddies, you should probably look elsewhere. This fanfiction is, to put it shortly, a teenage story set in Hogwarts. Also, I do not own any characters nor did I create them. The only thing I can have a claim on is all of the original characters who are my babies.

Chapter One

Rose didn't see herself much as a person who would resent the holidays, but god forbid this year she did. The thought of spending almost two weeks (twelve days but who's counting?) away from her friends didn't seem like the best idea. Of course she wanted school to randomly self-destruct before she got back, but that was beside the point. Her school had its share of never-ending homework and pointless rules. Who was the one who said it was illegal to bring a mug to Astronomy? What type of nonsense is that?

She didn't need to go back home to hear another batch of pointless lectures that her well-being and 'average' grades weren't enough. Did her parents not care to know that she was having the time of her life? Heck, her friends might not be 'family presentable', but they were fun most of the time. She had her share of Gryffindor friends, the few Hufflepuff, the select Ravenclaw, and then there were the Slytherins. A Gryffindor that had Slytherin friends sounded far-fetched and hard to believe, but it was true. They make horrible jokes about Rose behind her back, and simply loathed her at times, but they were friends. Let's see… there was Ginger, Craig, Tessa…

"Rose! " Rose suddenly jolted up from her desk, and looked around in a daze.

"Huh?"

It was only Ginger, god, who else could it be? Only she would dare mess with Rose while she was aimlessly wandering in her day dreams.

"Class is over if you haven't noticed." Ginger laughed, causing her short brown hair to move slightly. Rose could swear Ginger was a blonde, maybe in a past life? Of course Rose wasn't a blonde; she was a red-head. She'd considered dyeing her hair to a dark brown once or twice, but Rose had yet to find an appropriate time to do so. This year's winter vacation presented itself as the perfect opportunity. Ginger grabbed Rose's hand and yanked her from her desk.

"You're on your own with the homework…" Ginger continued talking, but as they walked out of the classroom Rose couldn't get herself to focus on the words Ginger was speaking to her. Rose was thinking that a cream puff sounded really good right about then…

"So then he goes…no shit it's too big!"

Out of habit, Rose faked a laugh and smoothed out her long hair, but as she did so, found herself wondering what exactly Ginger was talking about.

"What-what's next?" she said as she stepped back from Ginger.

"Bloody hell, you're not that delusional are you?" Ginger paused to look at Rose. Rose slightly shrugged her shoulders and gave a look that clearly stated that she had no idea what they were doing next. "You're serious? You've got to be kidding me..." Ginger took a pause so Rose could attempt to answer.

"I don't know.. Charms?"

"Lunch, Rose, Lunch!" Well, at least Rose had attempted to answer.

As they pushed their way toward the dining hall, Rose thought about how she had been getting some interesting looks from her friends recently. She wasn't normally like this, or at least, she wasn't before. It wasn't that so much had happened this year that it made her head spin or anything. It was just Rose found herself thinking about more serious topics than she had before. Finding herself in yet another relationship this year was most definitely a significant part of her problems.

His name was Craig, and he was a sixth year. Craig had short black hair that oddly did not shine blue in the sunlight, which Rose thought was customary for all people with black hair. He was also rather lanky, but not extremely tall. His height was a nice five foot eight. He was neither tall nor short, but somewhere near the middle. Rose didn't exactly resent this fact, but she preferred that the boys she went out with were taller than she. Besides, Rose was five foot five. She preferred to look up at boys rather than meet them eye to eye. Craig wasn't unattractive or anything, she just saw him as more of a brother than anything else. They had met in the library and had been talking ever since. From that moment she thought she had a crush on him, so when he asked her out she couldn't help but say yes. They had been going out since November, and little, if nothing, had changed. They did go to Hogsmeade together on dates, but their kisses didn't have fireworks going off in the background, nor did they give off some magical spark. In all honesty, it was like she was kissing a friend.

Rose sat and ate, but her thoughts still remained elsewhere. What was the true reason she was acting like she was? Well, among other things, it was a person, and it wasn't Craig. She wasn't in love with this person, it was just an innocent crush, or so she told herself. It still was, for that matter, she hadn't told anyone. When was it... oh yes, the start of fifth year!

The first day of Potions hadn't been what she was looking forward to when coming back to school. Not that Snape had a personal vendetta against her (that role was already taken), he just never seemed to warm up to her. The Gryffindors had the lovely 'privilege' of sharing their Snape-bonding time with the Hufflepuffs that year, though Rose had never really gelled with them. It's wasn't like there was anything wrong with the cheerful and down-to-earth Hufflepuffs, she just had other friends. At one time or another, she did have friends in the Hufflepuff house, but as the years went by, the friendships became more of 'hellos' in the hallway.

"Now, class, as you know, this year you take your O.W.L.S." Professor Snape always had begun class with some sort of welcome with the theme of 'this is about your well being as young (and idiotic, as he liked to put it) adults'.

"Not taking this seriously will be permitted," Snape glanced at Micah and Robin, just some of the trouble makers they had in their class, "but not advised. At least, if you want to leave this year and return for another year of schooling with all of your…precious classmates." With this statement, Micah and Robin stopped whatever they were doing, (hell, as far as we know they were looking at smut) and gave their full attention to Snape. Giving his usual sneer, Snape continued on with his lecture. Rose hadn't been bored out of her mind; she was to busy mourning how her life would be a nightmare that year compared to last year, and every other year she had endured. Thinking of massive amounts of homework definitely rained on her parade.

After about ten minutes of more threats and expectations, Snape had given the daily assignment and sat gallantly at his desk. It wasn't necessary to make his sit so dramatic, but he did anyway, simply because he was Snape. Rose was sitting by Ginger as she usually did. They were quarreling about how many minutes they were supposed to wait after they had finished stirring their unmade concoction. Ginger had eventually given up and gone to get more ingredients. That left Rose to stand for however long it took Ginger to put on her big girl panties and get over it.

"Dude, this girl seriously had perfect ...!" This had been barely audible to Rose, who took a step and turned around to see who had dared to say such a lewd statement. They were two Hufflepuff boys (no, of course they were women!). One boy, who was sporting spiky blonde hair, made circular motions towards his chest. The blonde-haired boy finished the gesture by giving a thumbs up to his friend. The other, who had short brown hair, winked and started walking Rose's way, though he wasn't looking in her direction. The boy with brown hair appeared to be making creepy (probably perverted) gestures to his friend as he slowly but surely made his way towards Rose. She was unpleasantly surprised to see that his back was still facing her. People not knowing where their going never turns out well.

In the next two seconds the boy ran into her. This wasn't a dainty "oh I'm a ballerina!" running into someone, this was "I'm a tough Quidditch player with a bludger in my way" running into someone. That probably explained why the impact of the brown-haired boy hurt so much. Rose rammed her side into the edge of the table before falling to the ground. The boy finally turned around to see what exactly had happened while he had been in perverted-thought land. He stumbled was like a boy who was getting used to his freakishly tall height. Well, his height wasn't freakish, but he was pretty damn tall. Rose couldn't help but to scream in pain.

"MOTHER FLOGGER!" Rose had yelled at the Hufflepuff. He panicked for a moment, but then took his 'I'm cool, I'm cool' act and offered to help her up. Snape had looked up for a moment, but noticing that there was a moment when he could take away house points put a smile on his face.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Rose. Think wisely before you speak." Snape, feeling satisfied, morosely continued what he was doing.

"Are you okay--?" The boy said as he helped her up to a standing position. Wanting to place a name there, he couldn't, because of what we simply call the 'I'm too cool to remember'.

"Rose." she said rather angrily.

Finally letting go of her hand, he smiled and responded, "I'm Cedric. Cedric Diggory." What better time to say your name except while you're checking someone out? This was just what he had been doing. Couldn't boys think of better times to continue in activates of such a manor?

"Well... if there's anything I can do, I guess let me know?" Nodding to her, he stepped back towards his friend, completely forgetting about what he had been doing in the first place. His friend nudged Cedric quite bluntly.

"Dude!" The blonde whispered "Did you check out her rack?"

Rose rolled her eyes and winced in pain, but couldn't help but look back at Cedric. She knew who he was, at least she did then. Not remembering who he was beforehand made Rose feel like an idiot. God, everyone knew everyone, didn't they? He was the Hufflepuff seeker, if she remembered correctly. No one was required to attend a Quidditch game, but everyone did. It was all like a big, suspenseful roller-coaster ride. Rose was just happy that she wasn't one of the Quidditch players. She had never been good at Quidditch, and probably never would be.

Cedric didn't look any different. Well, he'd obviously gotten taller, but what was it about him that changed how she thought of him? How did she find herself liking the boy who almost put a bloody hole in her side? Which, by the way, he would have to pay for, somehow! She would think of that later.

There was so much about him to be admired, she had found. The way he talked to his friends… it was like there was something about him that had to be admired, something that made everyone want to be around him. As she twiddled with her spoon, Rose had a feeling that this was the start of a very entertaining year.

Remembering that she had never gotten Cedric to pay for her injury, Rose snapped back into reality. Looking towards Ginger, Rose had a sudden realization.

"Hey, I've gotta go meet Craig in the courtyard. I'll catch you before lunch is over, kay?"

Ginger was shocked for a minute; she couldn't believe that she was getting blown off again. Ginger was used to it, but she was getting sick and tired of Rose blowing her off. Where were Rose's parents when she was supposed to get the lecture about responsibility? Obviously out doing more important things, or something. Then again, there were more important things to be teaching, like how to be a good citizen.

Rose took her own sweet time walking up staircases and through hallways to reach the courtyard. She ran into a few Hufflepuff girls while going up the stairs. She recognized one of them; the others must have been fourth years. Her name was Fiona, Fiona Warwick, if one wanted to get all fancy and technical with it. Long blond hair, a perfect smile, perfect everything. Well, of course, no one could be completely perfect, but Fiona came pretty damn close, at least in the eyes of the insanely jealous Rose. Miss perfect happened to be going out with, yep, you guessed it, Cedric Diggory. People just ate it right up. 'Cedric and Fiona look so cute!' or, 'Cedric and Fiona are making out!' Seriously, someone needed to cut the bullshit. They were just two horny little teenagers. One was the devil in disguise, and the other happened to be really, really attractive.

Fiona smiled at Rose and waved when she passed, but Fiona didn't laugh evilly or snicker. What was her problem!? She was the devil. Devils act evil. FIONA, ACT EVIL!, Rose willed. But she didn't. She kept true to her nick name. She was Miss Perfect, and they were the perfect couple. Perfect couples needed to die, seriously. There should be a type of 'kill off the perfect couple' rally. Rose made a mental note to look into that.

After about six or so minutes of passing through random parts of Hogwarts and cursing to herself about the cruel ways of the world, Rose reached the courtyard. Her journey to the courtyard went surprisingly fast. There Craig was, sitting on a bench twiddling his thumbs nervously. When Craig recognized her, it was like there was a wave of the 'she remembered me'-type glee, and he got up and walked towards her. When Rose and Craig met, the sea did not part, birds did not fly in singing, and a harp did not start playing in the near distance. In fact, it was the exact opposite. There were a group of young Slytherin boys who insisted on having a competition of 'who can use the most cuss words in one sentence', and it was obvious that they were not going to go about it in a quiet manner.

Craig and Rose, after Craig had scanned the courtyard, shared a quick kiss and started to walk together towards the bench Craig was sitting on previously. When they got there Craig did the quick 'I'm stretching' motion and put his arm around Rose. She didn't feel uncomfortable. He was attractive, and he was a sixth year (though sometimes Rose found herself wondering where his maturity went) but she was feeling awkward. She was dragging this on longer than it needed to be. Craig started a conversation about how he did some fancy spell or something in Transfigurations and was given extra points for Ravenclaw. At this point, the cussing competition had gone beyond a dull roar and was enough to make Rose blush a little. But she had to pay attention, and be nice, and smile, and nod like it was the most interesting thing she had ever heard (his story, not the Slytherin boys), when really she was thinking how she wouldn't mind for someone like Tessa to come and ruin the mood. Where was Tessa anyway? She hadn't seen her all day.

"Craig… hold your story for a second." Rose politely took Craig's hand away from her shoulder and placed it in her lap so she could hold his hand casually. She cleared her throat and looked him in the eye. The eyes that stared back were nervous and wary.

"I just want you to know that you mean a lot to me."

Craig must have taken this as some sort of sign showing him how his night was going to go, because his facial expression changed to something very un-Craig like. He appeared to be worried and his confidence seemed to be plummeting through the floor. Rose had yet to see this vulnerable side of Craig until now.

"And since we've been dating, I've had an amazing time."

Craig started inching closer to her in a final attempt to stop what she was going to say, not that they were sitting that far apart in the first place.

"But…I think we should stop seeing each other."

There it was. Rose said it. Rose dropped the bomb. Did she need to expect the 'you're a bitch' route, or the 'it's okay I understand' act? Craig was shocked for a second, but then he nodded his head and released the arm that was around her.

"Well…maybe we can still be friends?" Craig looked hopeful at this point.

"Of course." She murmured. First Rose gave him her hand to shake, but they ended up hugging. As Craig got up and smiled at her as he walked away, Rose found herself reminiscing about the past month and a half. She regretted waiting that long to even break up with him. She'd known from the moment they had started this whole affair that she could probably never like him as more than a friend. Rose, giving Craig the benefit of the doubt, made the choice to continue the relationship. Why had she done so? Those were moments of her life that she could never get back. Rose enjoyed the time she had spent with Craig, but who was she to keep him from having a girlfriend who actually liked him as more than just a friend? As Rose finished reminiscing and the wave of nostalgia had finished washing over her, there was one thought that had stuck in her mind.

No one can make me get breakup hair.

--

The remainder of lunch that Rose had not missed went by rather tediously. Somehow, and only God knows how, most of the student population knew that Craig and her had broken up. This was responded to through numerous of the same, yet revised, questions.

"Who broke up with who?"

"Did Craig break your heart?"

"Did you make him cry?"

"How do you feel?"

"Are you okay?"

"Do you need a tissue?"

"Are you going to miss him?"

The list goes on, and on, and on. Rose, getting very sick of the entire thing, politely excused herself. That is, if you call excusing yourself slamming your mug on the table, cursing under you breath, and walking away, then, yes, Rose did politely excuse herself. Of course, Rose leaving again left Ginger in a more pissy mood than she had been in before.

Rose couldn't really think of anything to do to pass the time now that Craig was gone and her friends were all foaming at the mouth over the latest gossip. Tessa was god-knew-where, and Rose's Gryffindor friends could shove needles in their eyes for all she cared. To make it more kid friendly, Rose wasn't in the mood to share her 'mores with the other kiddos.

Rose found herself wandering the floor of the Great Hall. She couldn't exactly get herself to rejoin her classmates, so she decided to do something more useful with her time. Rose headed towards the library to study for her History of Magic quiz. In her opinion, History of Magic was like walking into a room that was labeled 'stupid class that will bore you to tears'. She tried to listen, she really did, but after about an hour or so of lectures about the migration of the elves, or any other insanely boring topic, you couldn't help but fall asleep. The teacher didn't really notice. He was a peculiar ghost, after all.

Now, you have to understand, Rose really wasn't trying to nose into other peoples business when she stumbled upon the two. She was only merrily strolling towards the library to meet the pure torture known as boredom. It wasn't her fault that she found Cedric and Fiona getting it on around the bathrooms near the library. Well, they weren't 'getting it on', so to speak, they were more attacking each other with the power of love. Please, the power of love? More like the power of 'let's make babies!' She was surprised it had gone on long enough that a ghost or even a teacher hadn't noticed. That was shocking.

Regardless, it wasn't graphic enough to turn off the T.V for the little ones, but it was graphic enough to get a few select words from any teacher that caught them. Rose casually made a loud banging noise before hiding behind a door. If Rose couldn't be happy, no one could. Not today, at least. Fiona pushed away from Cedric and looked around like a scared mouse. There was obviously no one around for miles, but Fiona was affected because she started to leave.

"Fiona, wait."

Cedric was about to follow Fiona, who appeared to be too spooked to wait, when he saw her. Rose wasn't that obvious, was she? She smiled innocently. He didn't seem to think that Rose saw them together because he smiled back before heading off towards Fiona. What was he, dumber than a doornail? That, apparently, seemed to be the case.

Continuing with her previous plan, Rose continued towards the library. The Library wasn't like a deserted wasteland, but to say it was hustling and bustling with activity would definitely be an exaggerated statement. The select few were there, all houses, of course, except Slytherin. Who really can say they saw a Slytherin in the library, by themselves, studying? Exactly. No one could say that they have, because it just didn't happen. To find a Slytherin that's an adamant studier is like finding a giant troll in the middle of muggle London during rush hour. It's simply just not something you see.

Placing herself in a comfortable position on one of the numerous chairs in the library, Rose grabbed a book on the history of Headmasters and Headmistresses of Hogwarts and did exactly what she had set out to do: study.

Even though she was in the library, Rose wasn't considered the best student. She goofed off in class on the occasion and slacked off on a homework assignment or two, though somehow still managed to pull off a passing grade.

She had learned her lesson in some classes: never again would she procrastinate on the midterm essay Professor Snape assigned. This particular essay was about the consistency of water herbs. That had required an all-nighter that she regretted dearly. Rose was sure that on that night, and that night alone, she had sold her soul to the devil. Rose had not thought once of sacrificing more sleep than she had to before that incident, and since she never planned on it again, she kept up. But that was just Professor Snape's class. History of Magic, she was willing to blow off.

After about thirty minutes of reading that seemed never-ending, Rose realized that she was going to be late for Transfiguration. Rose, without boasting of course, took pride that Transfiguration was one of the few classes where she actually knew what she was doing. It didn't hurt that McGonagall was the head of her house. Rose wasn't McGonagall's favorite, but at least they were on good terms.

Rose left the library with her head held high. She had accomplished days worth of tasks, and the clock had yet to chime one. Rose didn't think of herself to be a particularly unproductive person, but she didn't see herself being some sort of all-around house elf. Breaking up with Craig was a task in itself, and it wasn't every day you could ruin another couple's day without getting caught, now was it?To top it all off, she even got some studying in!

After taking a quick stop at the Gryffindor common room to get her books, Rose continued on her way to Transfiguration. This time, unfortunately, she didn't see anything that was worthwhile or interesting. Rose pondered why she found herself walking alone to the class and remembered her earlier scene in the lunchroom.

Little did she know that she wouldn't be alone for long. In the hallways, no one would expect the sinister looks or cruel jokes that awaited them, if they weren't warned beforehand. Who would knowingly suspect a pack ready to make you their prey? How could Rose know that there were Slytherins waiting for her, and they had a plan.


End file.
